It is known that conventional garage door opener transmitters, which are typically dipped onto a sun visor or otherwise placed in a convenient location, have considerable drawbacks. For example, since such transmitters are conspicuous, they are prone to theft, tampering by children, and the like. Such transmitters are easily misplaced when removed from the vehicle. Further, such transmitters require batteries which must be replaced periodically.
Several prior art devices exist to overcome these drawbacks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,601 to Conti on Jul. 11, 1989, teaches a conversion kit for placing the transmitter, more or less fixed in place, at a remote location in the vehicle out of sight. The transmitter is powered with a stepped-down voltage from the vehicle battery, and actuated with a remote switch installed on or near the dash. U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,605 to Nixon on Mar. 15, 1988, discloses a similar invention. While such prior art devices are perhaps well suited for use with one transmitter, such devices do not make provision for multiple transmitters in one vehicle. Many homes have two or three-car garages with multiple garage doors, each door having a separate garage door opener and therefore separate garage door opener transmitters. Further, many gated communities require an additional transmitter to open an automatically controlled community gate. As such, it is not uncommon to find a single vehicle with two, three, or more separate transmitters, each transmitter for operating a separate gate or garage door. The prior art devices are clearly impractical in such situations, since one such prior art device is required for each transmitter. Moreover, this results in multiple additional switches installed in the passenger compartment.
A further drawback of such prior art devices is that most vehicle dashboards suffer from an overabundance of switches, knobs, and actuators in the first place. Adding an additional switch for each transmitter only serves to increase the overall complexity of operating the vehicle and further clutters the dashboard. Moreover, the installation of even one such switch must typically be performed by someone skilled with electronic vehicle installations, since not everyone can install a switch in a dashboard with professional results. As a result, while the manufacturing costs of such prior art devices may not be considerable, the cost of installing such prior art devices tends to be relatively high.
Still another drawback of the prior art devices, and conventional transmitter devices as well, is that the transmitter of such devices only transmits while one depresses the switch, which is typically a momentary normally-open push button type of switch. Frequently, however, people misjudge the length of transmission time required to operate the desired door or gate. As a result, many times a person will depress the switch for too brief a period of time, and the desired door or gate will not open. A second or third attempt is then required until one sees for a fact that the door or gate opener has been activated.
Clearly, then, there is a need for a device that allows remote actuation of a plurality of wave-energy transmitters. Such a needed device would be relatively inexpensive both to manufacture and to install, and would not require the installation of any additional switches in the vehicle dashboard, or the like. Further, such a needed device would have the added benefits of being powered from the vehicle battery, eliminating the need for separate batteries for each transmitter. Still further, such a needed device would keep such transmitters out of casual sight, and considerably reduce the chance of theft, tampering, or the like. Such a needed device would also control the transmission time of the transmitters, thereby ensuring that the transmission duration is long enough to activate the door or gate opener. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.